Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women's groups and the United Nations warn. Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.

In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent.

"It is one of the worst bills passed by the parliament this century," fumed Shinkai Karokhail, a woman MP who campaigned against the legislation. "It is totally against women's rights. This law makes women more vulnerable."

The law regulates personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and sexual relations among Afghanistan's minority Shia community. "It's about votes," Ms Karokhail added. "Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the elections are on the way."

The provisions are reminiscent of the hardline Taliban regime, which banned women from leaving their homes without a male relative. But in a sign of Afghanistan's faltering steps towards gender equality, politicians who opposed it have been threatened.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

At a news conference in Strasbourg, France, this morning, President Obama discussed NATO efforts in Afghanistan and secured the commitment of NATO allies to send 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Fox News’ Major Garrett asked Obama what he thinks of a new Afghanistan law that legalizes rape. The legislation, which applies to the country’s Shia population, contains this provision:

“As long as the husband is not traveling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night,” Article 132 of the law says. “Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband.”

In a written statement, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), said the law “legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband. … The law violates women’s rights and human rights in numerous ways.”

This morning, Obama said, “I think this law is abhorrent” and that his administration’s views are being communicated to the Karzai government. “We have stated very clearly that we object to this law.” But Obama added, the priority for the U.S. right now is al Qaeda. “But I want everybody to understand that our focus is to defeat al Qaeda and ensure that they do not have safe havens from which they can launch attacks against the Alliance.” Watch it:

An oppressive religion is the root cause for this stupidity...regardless of anything else that might be part of it.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Ya, I don't really like that response. How can we do all of this stuff in the name of helping people, but just say "no, no we don't like that" when the fucking government just legislated repeated rape? Yeah.

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

I find any law that is written for a special class of people abhorrent. Can you imagine the uproar here in the United States, if we wrote a similar law and applied it only to Mormons? This being beyond the fact their religious beliefs on the matter is very similar to the Shia POV.

I am disturbed by this continued use of Al Qaeda in arguing for our presence in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda, if a real threat, is a law enforcement problem not a military problem. But alas, Obama, is under pressure to prove himself a real man in the testosterone filled military world of who has the biggest gun and who is most willing to use it.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

A group of determined Afghan women took to the streets of Kabul on Wednesday, suffering chants of “Dogs!” from a much larger crowd in order to challenge a law that essentially legalizes marital rape. The AP reports on a scene that underscores the complexities of that country—there were more women among the angry counterprotesters than in the women’s rights group.

EXCELLENT COMMENT AT THE LINK:

Quote:

And, people are accused of having bad blood who have suspicions about the Moslem Religion? And, why?

But, lets not just focus on the hostile behavior of Islam to women who don’t know their place, but lets also focus on various Christian Cults. In fact let us not forget longest lived Christian Cult, whose newish Pope seems bent on bringing back the days of the church of Galileo’s time——“don’t trouble me with the facts—I already made up my mind!”

We, just like the other animals on this planet have been designed to over produce, but unlike the other animals we have largely the brain capacity to find solutions to problems, which have allowed us to live as individuals longer and with somewhat more security than a beast of the fields and plains. What does this mean? It means we have become like a cancer on the earth eating up the resources and smothering the the planet in human excrement.

And the religious ignore this and want women to be barefoot and pregnant all the time. We don’t have a shortage of people, we have a shortage of thinking things thru. Oh and back to the point, women are people and they have a right to input into the way our collective society is run and that shouldn’t be “You have the right to obey me and do what ever dumb thing I tell you”. Sadly there are always women who want to be lead, but that isn’t good for people as a group, only for inadequate men who need constant validation, sort of like godhead.

POPE'S NIGHTMARE

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking at anti-abortion group's dinner, criticized President Barack Obama for supporting abortion rights and challenged the idea that unplanned pregnancies are a nuisance that can be solved by abortion.

Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, spoke to an overflow crowd organizers said numbered 3,000 at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life banquet Thursday night.

Some in the crowd wore white "Palin 2012" T-shirts. Earlier, GOP National Chairman Michael Steele described her as one of the party's standard bearers, though he said it was too early to judge what her standing would be in three years.

. . . .

What the hell else would she say at an anti-abortion dinner?

This is where the unholy alliance of the Catholics, Fundies and Mormons begin. It spreads to anti-gay and anti-contraception stands as well. They call it pro family when what they mean is pro status quo, pro keep the women down and men in power. Make no mistake this entire group rates women as second class. There is no ordaining of women in this group of misogynists. I have said it before, women tend to be their own worst enemies.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

President Karzai bowed to international pressure yesterday by promising to amend a new law condoning marital rape and child marriage that provoked violent clashes in the Afghan capital.

The Shia Family Law, signed by the Afghan President last month, appeared to reintroduce the draconian policies of the Taleban era, such as a ban on married women leaving their homes without their husbands’ permission. The law applies to the 15 per cent of Afghans who are Shia Muslims.

At a press conference in Kabul yesterday Mr Karzai said: “The law is under review and amendments will take place. I assure you that the laws of Afghanistan will be in complete harmony with the constitution of Afghanistan, and the human rights that we have adhered to in international treaties.”

His statement appeared to rebut widespread speculation that by signing the law he was pandering to conservatives before this summer’s delayed presidential election. Mr Karzai confirmed that he would stand in the elections, where he will be the front-runner.

Afghanistan’s constitution guarantees equality of the sexes and the country is also a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. However, hardline theologians argue that all other provisions are overridden by Article Three of the Constitution, which guarantees that nothing contrary to the “beliefs and provisions of Islam” is permissible in Afghan law. Mr Karzai’s climbdown came a day after he said that he had been unaware of its content when he signed it. He made the claim when he met a group of women activists who organised a protest against the new law in Kabul last week. The protesters were attacked by a mob of male supporters of the law.

The controversial provisions were buried in the 239-page document, much of it written in dense theological jargon. Mr Karzai said that his aides had not briefed him properly about the details. Many opponents of the law have said that it did not pass through the normal channels, that would have included discussion of all the articles, because MPs were advised to let the Shia community determine the details of their own laws – a right granted by the constitution.

One article stipulates that the wife “is bound to preen for her husband as and when he desires”. Another passage sanctions marital rape. “As long as the husband is not travelling he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night . . . Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband.”

Article 133 reintroduces the Taleban restrictions on women’s movements outside their homes, stating: “A wife cannot leave the house without the permission of the husband” unless in a medical or other emergency.

Article 27 endorses child marriage, with girls legally able to marry once they begin to menstruate. The law also withholds from the woman the right to inherit her husband’s wealth.

When its contents were made public it was condemned widely by Western governments, with President Obama describing the new law as abhorrent.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman